Faculty in Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

Malcolm R. Beasley
Theodore and Sydney Rosenberg Professor of Applied Physics

Condensed matter and materials physics with an emphasis on superconductivity and its applications.  Advanced thin film deposition in the search for new superconductors, for model systems for fundamental physical study and for novel device structures.  Development and application of scanning probes for physical measurement.

Arthur Bienenstock
Professor of Applied Physics, Materials Science and Engineering and at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory
Special Assistant to the President for Federal Research Policy

My group's research involves the use of synchrotron radiation, and the development of new techniques, for the determination of atomic arrangements in physically interesting non-crystalline materials, including liquids.

Photo of A Bienenstock by L.A. Cicero / Stanford News Service

Steven Chu
Theodore and Frances Geballe Professor of Humanities and Sciences
Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics

Atomic physics, laser spectroscopy, quantum electronics. Laser cooling and trapping of atoms, atom interferometry, manipulation of biological molecules, spectroscopy of positronium and muonium.

Sebastian Doniach
Professor of Applied Physics and of Physics

Theory of cooperative phenomena in condensed matter systems and of structure-function relationships in biological molecules. Applications of synchrotron radiation to structural molecular biology.

Daniel S. Fisher
Professor of Applied Physics

Theory of collective and dynamical phenomena in condensed matter physics and biology. Recent research includes glass transitions, disordered materials, and quantum dissipation in superconductors. And in biology, evolutionary dynamics, especially in collaboration with laboratory experiments on microbes, and dynamical processes in cells.

Ian R. Fisher
Associate Professor, Department of Applied Physics
Associate Professor, By Courtesy, of Materials Science & Engineering

Unconventional magnetic & electronic ground states & phase transitions. Emphasis on design and discovery of new materials by crystal growth. Current interests include high field behavior of spin dimer compounds, valence skipping elements as negative-U centers and their role in superconductivity, reconstruction of the Fermi surface in charge density wave materials, and magnetism of 5d transition metal oxides.

Martin Greven
Assistant Professor Applied Physics and SSRL

Our research focuses on the fundamental electronic and magnetic structure and dynamics of certain transition metal oxides with strong electron correlations using state-of-the-art X-ray and neutron scattering techniques. These complex materials are at the frontier of condensed matter physics since they provide myriad possibilities to discover and study novel fundamental phenomena and phases, and because some of their properties, such as high-temperature superconductivity and colossal magnetoresistance (CMR), have potential applications in technology. Topics of particular current interest to us include low-dimensional model magnets, the high-temperature superconductors, and related non-superconducting phases.

Aharon Kapitulnik
Professor of Applied Physics and Physics
Chair, Department of Applied Physics

Strongly correlated electron systems. Disordered electron systems. Low-dimensional systems. Superconductivity. Magnetism. Quantum phase transitions. Search for broken-time-reversal symmetry state in novel condensed matter systems. Measurements techniques include transport, thermodynamic, optical, magnetic, and STM. Measurements of gravity at sub-mm length-scales.

Kathryn A. Moler
Associate Professor of Applied Physics, and of Physics
Director, Center for Probing the Nanoscale, an NSF NSEC

Development of magnetic nanoprobes for fundamental experiments in condensed matter physics, particularly strongly correlated electron systems and mesoscopic physics.

Zhi-Xun Shen
Professor of Applied Physics, Physics, and Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory
Director, Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University
Director, X-Ray Laboratory for Advanced Materials, SLAC, Stanford University

Physics of Quantum Matter: including superconducting, magnetic, ferroelectric and dielectric materials, organic conductors and superconductors, low-dimensional compounds, quantum phase transitions, elementary excitations and collective modes, Kondo and mixed valence problem, magneto-resistive materials, metal-insulator transition. Interaction between Light and Matter, and Advanced Spectroscopy, Scattering and Imaging Techniques: synchrotron radiation and free electron laser, high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy with angle, spin and time resolution, inelastic x-ray scattering, laser based photoelectron spectroscopy and microcopy, soft x-ray emission, and Raman spectroscopy. Physics of the Ultra-Small and Ultra-Fast: nanostructured materials, scanning microwave microscopy, time resolved photoemission spectroscopy, pump probe experiments.

James S. Harris
James and Ellenor Chesebrough Professor of Engineering
Professor of Applied Physics by Courtesy
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering by Courtesy

Molecular Beam Epitaxy, Solid State Device Physics and Modeling. Dr. Harris researches molecular beam epitaxy of III-V compound semiconductor electronic and optoelectronic materials. He also creates new electronic devices utilizing heterojunctions, superlattices, and quantum wells, including three-dimensional electronic devices and circuits.

Douglas D. Osheroff
J.G. Jackson and C.J. Wood Professor of Physics
Professor of Applied Physics by Courtesy

Physics of materials near absolute zero, including superfluidity in 3He, nuclear magnetically ordered solid 3He, and the dielectric and thermal properties of glasses.

John R. Kirtley

Scanning SQUID microscopy: For the past dozen years I have developed the technique of scanning SQUID microscopy and used the resulting novel instruments for fundamental studies.

Richard M. Martin
Consulting Professor of Applied Physics
Emeritus Professor of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Theory of condensed matter, especially the electronic structure of solids. Examples of recent work include density functional calculations for stability and superconductivity in doped fullerenes, new structures of nitrogen at high pressure, Monte Carlo simulations of many-body electron problems in one-dimensional electron wires, the theory of polarization and localization in insulators, and topological quantum order in Mott insulators.

Alexander L. Fetter
Emeritus Professor of Physics and Applied Physics

My work over the past decade has focused on the behavior of ultra-cold dilute quantum gases. This rapidly evolving area has spanned the fields of atomic physics and condensed matter physics, borrowing from both, with many spectacular new results. I am especially interested in the response to external rotations, which involve quantized vortices.

Theodore H. Geballe
Emeritus Professor of Applied Physics and of Materials Science and Engineering

Condensed matter and materials science, particularly in exploring the limits of superconductivity and magnetism in model systems and in systems far from equilibrium including interfaces  in thin film structures synthesized by advanced vapor deposition techniques. Investigation of pairing mechanisms and enhanced superconductivity in the high  T_c cuprate family and in amorphous and granular superconductors.

Walter A. Harrison
Emeritus Professor of Applied Physics

Theoretical studies of the electronic structure of solids and molecules and their relation to the properties of these systems. Current emphasis on understanding and modeling of semiconductor systems.